It wasn’t to be for beaten Buckland

Last night in London, Gary Buckland (28-5, 9KO) suffered his third defeat in 11 months as he was beaten by Richard Commey (18-0, 17KO) in their clash for the vacant Commonwealth lightweight title. Cardiff’s Buckland was widely out-pointed by Commey via Unanimous Decision with scorecards of 111-117, 111-117 and 110-118 at London’s York Hall. It was the first time that the Ghanaian had been extended past the eighth round and Buckland was the first opponent not to be stopped by the African. The Welshman applied pressure in his typical manner and kept Commey on the ropes during the initial rounds. However, as the fight wore on, Buckland’s strength became less effective and Commey backed him up. Buckland was also deducted a point in the 11th round. It was the first time Buckland had fought since back-to-back Fight of the Year candidates against fellow Welshman Gavin Rees. Buckland won the original in February but Rees had his revenge in May, both by Split Decision Buckland will now move back down to super-featherweight and attempt to reclaim the British title which is currently held by Leeds’ Gary Sykes – who has lost to Buckland twice, once in Prizefighter in 2010 and once for the British title in 2011. If Buckland can win the title, the Welshman needs just one more defence to own the historic Lonsdale belt outright forever.